Inking mechanism for plate-printing machines



L. J. SWAIM INKING MECHANISM FOR PLATE PRINTING MACHINES l9 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet L. J. SWAIM INKING MECHANISM FOR PLATE PRINTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 19 1922 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 L. J. SWAIN] INKING MECHANISM FOR PLATE PRINTING MACHINES Filed Oct. 19. 1922 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented @ct. 2, 1923.

1,469,544 OFFICE.

INKING MECHANISM FOR PLATE-PRINTING MACHINES.

Application filed October 19, 1922. Serial No. 595,629.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LINDIAN J. SWAIM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inking Mechanism for Plate- Printing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aS will enable others skilled in the art to which it apother, the fountain including end walls and side walls defining an open bottom with which the roll cooperates, the side walls being adjustably supported between the end walls and having lateral edges engaging grooves'in the end walls, one lateral section of each end wall being provided with two grooves to permit the cooperating sidewall to be adjusted to two positions, with respect to the roll, to better adapt the fountain to the efiicient distribution of inks of different characters or consistencies, the end walls where they engage with the roll being provided with a special adjustable packing means to prevent the escape of ink and to reduce to a minimum the friction between the end walls and the roll. These and other novel features of the invention will appear from the annexed specification, predicated on the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, of the inking mechanism;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional elevation;

Fig. 4 is a plan View;

Fig. 5 illustrates the details of the packing; and

Fig. 6 illustartes the follower or backing. plates cooperating with the packing.

Referring to the drawings, 1, 1 indicate the end plates of the fountain or ink receptacle, made of suitable metal such as cast iron or the like, the lower edge of each of which is provided with an arcuate recess 2,

front wall 11 in adjusted position.

substantially semicircular and conforming to the periphery ofa circular shoulder on the adjacent end of the roll, the inner face of each end wall being finished with a recessed or countersunk portion, 2', which partly engages the surface of the roll at the upper portion of its arcuate edge, each end plate or wall 1 being provided with a notch or recess to receive a cross bar 5 adapted to be connected to the edges of the end walls by suitable bolts 6. Cross rods 7, 7 connect the lower portions of the end walls 1, 1 rigidly together. Formed near the forward edge of each end wall and on the inner face thereof is a generally longitudinal groove 10, adapted to receive the lateral edge of a front wall 11, the lower edge of which is formed to closely engage the surface of the roll. The front wall 11 is provided with two spaced brackets 12, each carrying an adjusting screw 13, which passes loosely through an opening. 16 in the cross bar 5 with the end of the screw projecting into an opening 5 in the cross bar. Cooperating with the screws 13 are adjusting nuts 14 and l5'adapted to lock the screws ang the set screw 18 engagin a slot 19 in the lower edge of the cross ar 5 is a tapped into the front wall 11, as indicated in Fig. 1, andserves to clamp the wall firmly in position to prevent any play or lost motion between said wall and its support.

The rear ed e of each of the end walls is provided wit two generally longitudinal slots 24: and 25, the slot 24 being inclined to the vertical and the slot being substantially vertical. These slots form alternative sea/ts for'the lateral edges of the rear wall element 26 of the fountain, whereby the said rear wall may be adjusted to different relations with respect to the roll to accomodate inks of difi'erent consistencies and efiect uniform feeding of the inks as will be hereinafter explained. Said rear wall 26 is likewise provided with two brackets 27, carrying ad ustment screws 28, which are applied and connected to an adjustable cross bar 20, in the same manner as the. adjustment screws 13, which constitute the supporting and adjusting means for'the front wall 11. The cross bar 20 is located between the end walls 1, 1, and is connected near its bottom to each of the walls by a pivot bolt 21, and near its top by a bolt 22 enga 'ng an arcuate slot- 23 in each of the en walls, so that the to an inclined position, such as shown in- Fig. 3 in-which the wall 26 engages the slots 24 in the end walls. A set screw 27' engaging a slot midway of the bottom edge of the cross bar 20 is tapped into the rear wall 26 and serves to hold the same rigidly in its properly adjusted position.

Cooperating with the fountain is a distributing roll 30, having end sections 31 of lesser diameter, the lateral peripheral edges of the roll engaging the arcuate shoulder of the recesses 2' in the respective end walls,

and the reduced end portions of the roll, 31,

engaging the arcuate recesses 2, in the lowerand roll, without the application ofundue ends of the end walls.

The roll is provided with a shaft or 'ournal 32, with which cooperate two journal earings or boxes 33, each of which is carried by a screw '34, the screws 34 loosely engaging perforations in lateral lugs 4, 4 extending outwardly from each end wall, each screw being provided with two set nuts 35 above and below the correspondin lug to permit the vertical adjustment 0 the screws with respect to the lugs and thereby efiecting the accurate adjustment of the roll with respect to the fountain, It will be particularly noted that this adjustable supporting means between the fountain and the roll ties these two elements together in a unitary structure, so that the inking mechanism as a whole may be readily applied to, or removed from operative position on the plate printing machine without disturbing any of the other elements of the latter, the

means for attaching the inking mechanism to the printing machine and effecting the. proper adjustments between the device and the printing machine preferably taking the form of screws v50 supported in lugs 3 extending from each of the end plates, said screws being provided with lock nuts 51, 51 which clamp the fountain and its associated roll to the standards usually provided for the support of the fountain alone, as indicated in Fig. 1.

As heretofore constructed and applied, the ink trough and distributing roll cooperating therewith have been separately and individually supported by the machine standards, means being provided for adjusting the roll, in its supports, with respect to the fountain. This arrangement involves the necessity of providing packing between the lower edges of the end walls of the fountain and the peripheral surface of the roll, or forcing the engaging surfaces of the end walls and the roll into engagement under heavy pressure, to prevent the leakage of the ink between the contacting surfaces. Both methods of preventing leakage necessarily mduced a large element of friction oesses 40 is filled in with a aaeaeae it dilficult to maintain the parts in proper adjustment and resulted in frequent suspension of the work of the machine to permit the necessary adjustments to be made. This practice also necessitated making the fountain of relatively heavy parts, which increased the cost as well as the expenditure of labor in applying and adjusting the fountain and roll separately.

The present invention includes a very simple but highly effective form and arrangement of packing between the fountain and the roll, which not only admits of the fountain being constructed of materially lighter parts, but insures tight joints between the ngaging surfaces of the fountain pressure, so that practically no frictional resistance isdeveloped between the roll'and the fountain, and any wear which occurs will be taken up by the packing and may be readily compensated by adjusting the latter. To effect these very desirable objects each of the end walls 1, 1 is provided with a recess 40 in its inner face, which recess is generally rectangular in shape and is intersected at its lower portion'by the arcuate recess 2 in the bottom of the end wall, the recess being extended to include the lower ends of the slots 10, 24 and 25, in each of the end walls, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3. Accurately fitting in the upper portion of each recess 40 is a packing plate 41, preferably made of indurated fibre or similar material, the lower edge of the plate 41 being curved as at 42 to accurately fit the peripheral edge of the roll 30, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. As the recess 40 is deeper than the grooves in the corresponding end wall, each of the packing plates 41 is provided with complementary grooves 10', 24 and 25', which consti'tute extensions of the grooves 10, 24 and.

25, which receive the lower portions of the ment. The lower portion of each of the repacking plate 43, adapted to engage the ad acent end of the roll with its inner face, said plate having an arcuate upper edge 44 accurately fitting the lower edge 42'of the late 41, and also having an arcuate lower e ge 45, which engages the surface of the stepped or reduced section 31 of the roll. ach of the packing plates is backed by a follower plate of metal, such as illustrated at 46 and 47 in Fig. 6, and suitable set screws 48 and 49 tapped through the end walls 1, engage the respective followers 46' and 47, and thereby permit an accurate adjustment of the packing plates 41 and 43, with respect to the roll and the lower edges of the front and back walls of the fountain to inrangement of the packing also insures that.

any resultant wear between the moving parts will be largely taken up by the pack:

. ing plates, and may be immediately compensated by a simple adjustment of the packing plates. I

It is to be especially noted that the disposition and arrangement of the front wall 11 of the fountain is such as to prevent pocketing of the ink in the fountain, as the lower edge of the wall engages the roll well toward the top of the latter, s9 that no churning of the ink, with the consequent overheating and impairment thereof, results. It has been found that inks of dif ferent character and consistencies require different areas of contact with the roll within the fountain to effect a proper distribu tion and feeding of the ink to the surface of the roll. For example, a red or other bright colored ink of relatively high fluidity and mobility takes the surface of the roll more effectively than a more viscous black ink. Hence a better distribution of the more mobile ink on the roll surface will be effected, if the area of contact between the ink in the fountain and the roll surface is reduced. Under such conditions, the rear wall 26, is set in the slots 24, so that the lower edge of the wall 26 rides well up on the roll, and the area of contact between the ink and the roll is materially reduced. On the other hand, when black ink is employed, that is relatively thick and heavy, the wall 26, or another wall substituted therefor, will be mounted in the slots 25 in the end walls 1 thereby giving a more extensive area of contact between the ink in the fountain and the surface of the roll. In this case, the lower edge of the rear wall 26 will be fashioned to conform accurately to the surface of the roll and the cross bar 20 supporting the wall 26 will be swung to its upright position and securely clamped in position by the bolts 22 engaging the slots 23 in the end walls.

lVhat- I claim is 4 1. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewith; said fountain including end walls engagin the ends and peripheral edges of theroll and provided with substantially longitudinal slots, cross bars connecting the end walls, front and back walls engaging the slots in the end walls, and means for adjustably supporting the front and back walls from the cross bars to hold said frontand back walls in cooperative relation with the surface of the rolL end of the roll.

2. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewith; said fountain including end walls engaging the ends and peripheraledges of the roll, each end wall having two substantially longitudinal slots adjacent one vertical edge and a single longitudinal slot near the other vertical edge, a front wall engaging the single slots in each end wall a rear wall engaging one or the other of t e two slots in each end wall, cross bars connecting the end walls, and means for adjustably supporting the front and back walls from the cross bars to hold said front and back walls in cooperative relation with the surface of the roll.

3. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewith; said fountain including end walls and front and back walls adjustably supported between the end walls, each end wall being provided with a recess adjacent the end of the roll, and packing plates in said recesses engaging the peripheral ed es and ends of the roll and the lateral e ges of the front and back walls.

, 4:. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewith; said fountain including end walls and front and back walls adjustably supported between the end walls, each end wall being provided with a recess adjacent the end of the roll, and contiguous packing plates in each recess, one plate engaging the peripheral edge of the roll and the other plate engaging the 5. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewithasaid fountain including end walls and frontand back walls adjustably supported between the end walls, each end wall being provided with v a recess adjacent the end of the roll, contiguous packing plates in each recess, one plate engaging the peripheral edge of the roll and the other plate engaging the end of the roll, and means for adjusting said packing plates longitudinally of the roll.

6. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewith; said fountain including end walls and front and back walls adjustably supported between the end walls, each end wall having substantially longitudinal slots to receive the lateral edges of the front and back walls and also having a recess adjacent the end of the roll, and packing plates in said recesses having slots therein forming confountain including end walls and front and,back walls adjustably supported betweenthe end walls, each end wall having substantially longitudinal slots to receive fountain including front, rear and end walls, said end walls engaging the ends and peripheral edges of the roll and provided with substantially longitudinal slots to receive the lateral edges of the front and rear walls, cross bars connecting the end walls, adjusting screws connected to the outer faces es of the front and back of the front and rear walls and engaging openings in the cross bars, and nuts on said screws to lock the screws in adjusted position.

9. Inking mechanism for plate printing machines comprising a distributing roll, and a fountain cooperating therewith; said fountain including front, rear and end walls, said end walls engaging the ends and peripheral edges of the roll and provided with substantially longitudinal slots to receive the lateral edges of the front and rear walls, cross bars connecting the end walls, adjusting screws connected to the outer faces of the front and rear walls and engaging openings in the cross bars, nuts on said screws to lock the screws in adjusted position, and set screws assing through slots in the cross bars and engaging the front and rear walls.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature. LINDIAN J. SWAIM. 

